Human Dormancy Syndrome (HDS) is a newly recognized syndrome involving an elevated reverse triiodothyronine (“rT3”) to free triiodothyronine (“fT3”) ratio and one or more symptoms (see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/444,845, incorporated by reference). Diagnosis of HDS was enabled by the recognition that the rT3/fT3 ratio of prior studies was inaccurate, in that subjects considered “normal,” in fact, had a disorder as described in the above patent application, the recognition of a lower level of true “normal” subjects, diagnosis of HDS has led to improved treatment.
Cancers are among the most difficult diseases to treat. Cancers are known to be multifactoral, involving genetic predisposition, uncontrollable environmental factors and controllable factors, such as smoking, ingestion of carcinogens etc. Morbidity and mortality exact a large human and economic cost from our society. Current therapies for cancer include chemotherapy using cytotoxic agents, antibodies against cancer cells, and/or radiation therapy, among other treatments.
Early diagnosis of cancer has been one of the more effective determinants of successful anti-cancer therapy. Many methods are used to detect cancer, including histological examination, detection of cancer markers in serum and other bodily fluids, physical examination, patient history, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, x-ray, ultrasound and other methods.
However, mechanisms of cancer formation and factors that contribute to cancer growth are not well known. There is general acceptance that certain cancers are associated with mutations in genes (oncogenes) that are present in human cells. Other types of cancers are known to be associated with certain viral infections.
Likewise, autoimmune diseases have a complex etiology, and in many cases, are poorly understood and poorly treated. Thus, predicting the outcome of autoimmune disorders is uncertain, and can lead to ineffective treatments and/or lost time, during which an autoimmune disorder can worsen.
Therefore, there is a great desire to understand the etiology of complex diseases, and development of effective treatments is a major public health concern.